JOSHUA 22

After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites were camped by the Jordan River and ready to enter into the land that God promised to give them. We learned that the 2 ½ tribes of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh chose to remain on the east side of the Jordan because the land seemed more suitable for raising their livestock. Moses gave them permission to do so with one stipulation. They were to join the other 9 ½ tribes in warfare until the Promised Land was conquered. Reuben, Gad and Manasseh agreed, and they fought with their brethren and for them for approximately 7 years. That sets the background for our study tonight.

1 ¶ Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

• As we will see, this is a reference to their men of war, who had left their homes on the east side of Jordan to assist their brethren in the conquest of Canaan.
• May each one of us do whatever we can prayerfully and practically to help our brothers and sisters in Christ when they are in a battle. 

2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.

 4 And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them:

• This promise of rest in the land was contingent upon their being obedient to His command to conquer the enemies in the land. When reading the bible, we see that there are conditional and unconditional promises. God gave the nation rest because they obeyed what God told them to do.
• Beloved, there is no rest outside of knowing the will of God and doing the will of God.

therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.

5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

• The true greatness, glory, and blessedness of any community of people devoted to following Jesus consists in their loving the Lord, observing his ordinances, and walking in his ways. What a great thing for us to pray as a congregation. That God by the power of His Holy Spirit would cause us to observe His ways, keep His commandments, cleave to Him and serve Him with all of our heart and soul.
• Mark that word diligence beloved. Persevering application; steady, earnest attention.  I.E. wholeheartedness.
• Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
• Pr 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.

7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan:

• Bashan; the north part of the country possessed by the Israelites on the east of Jordan.

but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward.  And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,

8 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

 9 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

• Their possession beloved was according to the Word of The Lord by the hand of Moses. Yes, we are to walk diligently and obediently, but at the end of the day, it is the providence of God that establishes the “borders” of our lives.

10 ¶ And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great (large) altar to see to.

11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.

• As we will see in verses 27 and 28, this altar was not built by these tribes to worship and sacrifice unto another God. Neither was it built as an alternative site for the for the sake of sacrifice or for worship of Jehovah. It was built as a symbol of solidarity with their brothers on the other side of the river.
• Because the tribes on the west side of the Jordan assumed that this altar was either an act of idolatry or a site to worship another God, a civil war between the tribes on the two sides of the river almost broke out. How many wars that have broken out amongst Gods people may have been avoided if we had gone to the other person and gathered all of the facts about the situation first?

12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

• Please note here beloved that the tribes on the west side of the Jordan river are acting on hearsay, not facts. When they heard that the tribes on the other side of the Jordan had built this altar, instead of  investigating the matter first, they assumed the worst and were prepared to go to war against them.
• Beloved, hearsay and rumors are two of the things that the devil uses to bring division and discord within the body of Christ. The godly way of fanning the fires of rumors is by going to the source of the matter and getting all the facts.
• Prov 18:13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
• Beloved, making a decision without learning the whole story always leads to folly, shame and division.

13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,

16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?

17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

• Do you see what is going on here in verses 13-18? Before hearing what their brothers explanation for the building of this altar, these tribes 9 ½ tribes have already had concluded that what their brethren did was an act of rebellion and a sin that would bring God’s wrath upon the entire nation as in the case of Peor and Achan (verse 20).

19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.

• If the land--be unclean; In other words, if the tribes on the eastern side of the river  thought that the land was unclean because there was no altar for sacrifice, and no place for public religious worship, they were invited to come over and live on the west side of Jordan where was the tabernacle, rather than to set up separate worship and thus rebel against God.

20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

• It turns out that the tribes on the east side of the river bore false witness in accusing their brothers of rebelling against The Lord. Many people that think that bearing false witness is limited to telling a lie, and that is indeed one way of bearing a false witness. However, bearing a false witness also means giving the right information with the wrong implication, as we see here.

21 ¶ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

 22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

 23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;

• The Lord--require; In other words, God will punish us if we have built this altar in rebellion against him. Only God knows the thoughts and intents of the hearts beloved.
• Each and every one of us need to be careful on this matter of judging one another. Oh how our adversary the devil thrives on half-truths, rumors, hearsay and the unbiblical interpretation of the passage, abstain from all appearance of evil. The enemy loves it when we are at odds with one another. He loves it when we wage war against one another…are critical of one another. He loves it when we hold on to grudges. Let us not be ignorant of the wiles of the devil.

24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

 25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

• In other words, the motive that actuated them for building the altar the exact opposite of that of which they were we suspected of.

26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

27 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

29 God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

• Because this would have been in flat opposition to the law, Le 17:8,9; De 12:4-6,10,11,13,14, which most positively forbade any sacrifice or offering to be made in any other place than that one which the Lord should choose. Therefore the altar built by the Reubenites, &c., was for no religious purpose, but merely to serve as a testimony that they were one people with those on the west of Jordan, having the same religious and civil constitution, and bound by the same interests to keep that constitution inviolate. Adam Clarke
• The words in verses 26-29 express their strong abhorrence of the sin of rebellion against The Lord.

30 ¶ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.

31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.

32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

 33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

• When Phinehas and the leaders of the other tribes heard the testimony of their brothers on the west side of the river, they rejoiced to find them innocent, and that there is no ground of quarrel between the children of the same family.

34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.

• Ed means witness or testimony. Some believe that an inscription was put on this altar, which pointed out the purposes for which it was erected. The real intention of building this altar was to be a witness or a testimony of the unity of the 12 tribes for future generations.
• The unity of the body of Christ is found at the foot of the cross of Calvary.
• The visible demonstration of our unity as Christians is our love for one another.
• John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
• John 17:20 ¶ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Practical lessons

When you hear a rumor about something or someone, before you come to a decision yourself, make sure that you go to the source of the matter and get all of the facts.

No question about it, the building of this altar appeared to be a violation of God’s Word. But that appearance of evil was dispelled when all the facts were disclosed.